Kitchenfest set to kick off Sunday

SYDNEY — The Cape Breton kitchen party has a new platform in which to shine, thanks to a weeklong music and culture celebration being presented by the Gaelic College.

Sisters Margie Beaton, left, and Dawn Beaton will perform several times during Kitchenfest. Margie is also director of marketing with the Gaelic College, which is presenting the new summer festival. Cape Breton Post file photo

The new summer event, titled Kitchenfest, officially kicks off Sunday and runs until July 5. There's a full week of activities at the Gaelic College itself, including marquee opening and closing day concerts, but 10 island venues have also signed on to the event and will be hosting nightly music sessions from 9 p.m. to midnight throughout the week.

"(Kitchenfest) was really born out of last year's 75th anniversary here where we had a weeklong celebration all here on campus," explained Margie Beaton, director of marketing with the college, noting they wanted to expand on the success of that event and reach audiences around the island.

A long list of some of the island's best talent will help them do that in some of Cape Breton's most renowned venues — from the Red Shoe Pub in Mabou to the Keltic Lodge in Ingonish, from Governors Pub in Sydney to the Waterfront Centre in Whycocomagh.

"We're really excited to support the language and culture in an authentic way," said Beaton. "It's something that's happening here anyway. We have these great venues putting on music all the time anyway so we're just kind of coordinating it all and packaging it."

Artists set to take the stage across Cape Breton as part of Kitchenfest include Beaton and her sister Dawn, Kenneth and Calum MacKenzie, Còig, J.P. Cormier, Evans and Doherty, Howie MacDonald, Brenda Stubbert, Buddy MacDonald and Rachel Davis, Andrea Beaton, Douglas Cameron, Allie Bennett, Mac Morin, Melody and Derrick Cameron, Marc Boudreau, Cyril MacPhee, Gillian Boucher and many more. Gaelic College CEO Rodney MacDonald will also be performing.

There will also be a Gaelic host at each venue.

"A host will ensure that folks are comfortable and know who's performing and also for people to hear the Gaelic language, just to hear what it sounds like, maybe learn a bit, and feel that presence that's so connected with the music," she said.

Beaton said Kitchenfest is a good way to kick off the summer season and provides an opportunity for local artists to perform and area residents and visitors to hear some great music.

"We really want visitors and locals and everyone to feel that sense of hospitality that comes along with a kitchen ceilidh, which is where the name Kitchenfest really comes from," she said.

Kitchenfest kicks off at the Gaelic College Sunday at 2p.m. with the opening concert featuring Heather Rankin and band, Evans and Doherty, Wendy MacIsaac and Mary Jane Lamond, Rodney MacDonald and Glenn Graham, and pipe group Nuallan. Throughout the week, the college will host a variety of events including cultural demonstrations, a St. Ann's Bay Players production, a book launch, dinners and a Gaelic day. The final day, July 5, will feature a full day of activity and a closing concert featuring The Barra MacNeils.

"We're hopeful that folks will take the opportunity to get out to see all this great stuff," said Beaton.

Tickets to events at the Gaelic College are available by calling the college at 295-3411. Admission to events at the 10 venues across the island is $10 per night at the door, with the exception being the Old Triangle in Sydney where admission is free. The Highland Village in Iona is also hosting some events in conjunction with Kitchenfest, June 30.

Sisters Margie Beaton, left, and Dawn Beaton will perform several times during Kitchenfest. Margie is also director of marketing with the Gaelic College, which is presenting the new summer festival. Cape Breton Post file photo